Unlimited Data on Three Reviewed: All-You-Can-Eat Data & 4G Speeds

Three offers unlimited data on a range of price plans in the UK with inclusive personal hotspot and international roaming.

In the UK, Three is fairly unique as a mobile network for strongly promoting their range of unlimited data price plans (also known as all-you-can-eat data).

With Three’s unlimited data plan, you can use your smartphone worry-free for as much browsing, streaming and downloading as you like. You’ll get access to Three’s 4G network with 99% population coverage, and you’re able to tether or use personal hotspot to share your data with other devices. You’ll also be able to use up to 19GB of your data abroad in other countries through the Go Roam offer.

In this article, we’ll review the unlimited data offering from Three in the UK. We’ll start by looking at the features of Three’s unlimited data price plan, including any fair usage limits and the TrafficSense policy. We’ll then look at the multiple ways you can get unlimited data, before reviewing the coverage you can expect and how to keep your existing phone number.

Unlimited Data on Three

All-You-Can-Eat Downloads With No Limit

In the UK mobile market, Three has stood out for the best part of a decade amongst the major mobile networks for offering an unlimited data plan.

The network has offered unlimited data since 2010 under the brand name of all-you-can-eat data. The brand name originated from the fact that ‘unlimited data’ policies had previously been tarnished (e.g. with hidden download limits and fair usage policies). The all-you-can-eat branding was therefore intended to signify truly unlimited downloads with no hidden limits or fair usage policies.

As of 2019, Three no longer uses the ‘all-you-can-eat’ branding for unlimited data and has now returned to calling this ‘unlimited’. You can get unlimited data on a range of price plans from Three, including Pay Monthly, Pay As You Go and mobile broadband plans.

Note: On Three’s website, you’ll sometimes find reference to a monthly download limit of 1,000GB. This figure of 1,000GB is based on a physical limit: it’s how much data Three thinks you’d be able to use if you were downloading on your smartphone 24/7. From the Three website:

Unlimited data gives you worry free internet use. Even if you used your phone for every minute of every day you could only use, subject to TrafficSense™, around 1000GB each month. We may use this cap to identify inappropriate use of the service, such as commercial use, which isn’t permitted under our terms and conditions.

4G Download Speeds

All of Three’s unlimited data plans include access to 4G. Download speeds of up to 300Mbit/s are available on Three’s 4G network, subject to coverage in your area and handset compatibility.

Unlike some other mobile networks, Three does not restrict your maximum download speed once you’ve used a certain amount of data. For instance, on giffgaff’s Always-On data plan, you’ll see a speed reduction to 384Kbit/s (0.4Mbit/s) after the first 20GB of data usage each month.

At the time of writing, Virgin Mobile is the only other mobile network offering unlimited data with no speed caps. However, this is only available on a Pay Monthly contract and is an exclusive offer for customers who have Virgin home broadband.

Tethering & Personal Hotspot

Tethering or personal hotspot refers to the process of sharing your smartphone’s internet connection with other devices (e.g. with your laptop or tablet).

Until October 2018, Three had a 30GB monthly limit on how much data you could consume through tethering or portable hotspot. As of 2019, this limit no longer applies for both new and existing customers. You can now use your unlimited data allowance for as much tethering and portable hotspot as you like.

Throttling & Traffic Management

Traffic management doesn’t normally apply when you’re in the UK.

Three has a traffic management policy known as TrafficSense. According to their key facts indicator, throttling and traffic management are not ordinarily used in the UK. The exception is in heavily congested locations, where time-critical traffic might be prioritised over other traffic:

As a network built to serve its customers we have to be prepared to ensure we can provide you with a smooth and reliable experience no matter what. In the event of network or equipment failure, or heavy congestion, we may have to deploy technology to ensure that our network runs smoothly, supporting time critical traffic and minimising disruption.

In the past, P2P file-sharing applications (e.g. BitTorrent) were slowed down on the network between 3pm and midnight each day. This is no longer the case, with Three’s key facts indicator confirming there is no longer any restriction on this type of traffic.

The key facts indicator also confirms that your speeds won’t be reduced for using too much data (see the section “Is traffic management used in relation to heavy users?”).

Traffic management is used when you’re travelling outside of Europe in a Go Roam Around The World location. Video streaming may be limited to standard definition and services such as P2P and VPN might be slowed down. Usage of portable hotspot is also not included when you’re travelling outside of Europe.

Relationship to Go Binge

As an alternative to their unlimited data plans, Three offers a service called Go Binge on all Pay Monthly plans with at least 12GB of data per month. Go Binge offers unlimited data for use on Netflix, TV Player, Snapchat, Soundcloud, Deezer and Apple Music.

Of course, the fully unlimited ‘all-you-can-eat’ data plans give you much more flexibility as you can use your unlimited data allowance on any service you like (including things like BBC iPlayer, YouTube, NOW TV, Spotify, Facebook, Instagram and other services not covered by Go Binge). However, if you don’t need all of this extra flexibility, the cheaper Go Binge price plans may be more suitable for you.

Unlimited Data Price Plans

There are four ways of getting an unlimited data plan from Three: on a SIM-only basis, on a Pay Monthly contract, on Pay As You Go and on a mobile broadband tariff. In the following section, we’ll look at each of these options in more depth:

SIM Only

If you already have a smartphone that you’re happy to keep, the cheapest and best value way of getting unlimited data is by ordering one of Three’s unlimited data SIM cards. This will slot inside your existing unlocked smartphone, allowing you to benefit from the unlimited data allowance.

The following SIM card gives you unlimited data along with unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and Go Roam Around The World:

Pay Monthly

If you’d like to buy a new smartphone at the same time as getting unlimited data on Three, you can choose a 24-month Pay Monthly contract. Three offers a selection of handsets from Apple, Samsung, Huawei and others, with the cost of your contract depending on the handset you choose.

Mobile Broadband

Three offers unlimited data for £22/month on their 24-month mobile broadband price plans. You can choose from either a HomeFi or a MiFi device.

The HomeFi is designed to replace your home broadband connection. It gives you 4G broadband on up to 32 devices at one time, with no need for a landline or cable connection. Category 4 LTE download speeds of up to 150Mbit/s are supported on the HomeFi, making it a potential alternative to fibre broadband at home. See our full review of the HomeFi for more information.

The MiFi is designed to give you 4G mobile broadband whilst you’re on-the-go. It’s a battery-operated device that can instantly spin up a wi-fi hotspot for your other devices to connect to.

Coverage

Three offers 99.8% population coverage on its 4G network and 98.3% population coverage on its 3G network. Customers with an unlimited data plan are able to access both 3G and 4G coverage from Three.

International Travel

With Three’s unlimited data plan, you’ll get international roaming at no extra cost through the Go Roam Around The World offer. This allows you to use your UK allowances when abroad in 71 destinations including most of Europe, the USA and Australia.

Within Europe, this is 19GB/month if you’re a Pay Monthly customer and 15GB/month if you’re a Pay As You Go customer. Further data usage beyond this limit is surcharged at 0.5p/MB (0.41p/MB in countries where VAT does not apply).

Outside Europe, there’s a fair usage policy of 12GB/month on unlimited data plans. Your data usage will be blocked for the rest of the month when you reach this limit.

When your new phone or SIM card arrives from Three, fill out this form on Three’s website. After you submit your PAC Code, Three will schedule the transfer of your phone number (normally for the next working day). In the meantime, you’ll continue receiving a service from your old mobile network.

Your Comments
96 so far

Rosssaid:

Hi Ken
Lots of interesting information in many of the comments and replies, please let me add mine.
I live near Monifieth, Angus, Scotland, my “Three” phone signal is generally 3G 2 / 3 bar occasionally get 4g until I pick the phone up and it drops back to 3G.
I got a PAYG Three phone sim and loaded £35 so I would get full unlimited data etc, I’m currently standing my iPhone SE in the kitchen window and using it as a hotspot, I stream iptv with mixed results.
I purchased a TP-Link AC750 4g WiFi router and put the phone sim in to it, if it had worked I’d have then got an outside antenna, the router seemed to connect but wouldn’t transmit data, it did do a couple of impressive Speedtests but nothing else like an initial update.
Without giving “Three” too much information I asked about using a phone sim in a router and the customer service representative said “it won’t work the sim cards are not compatible a phone sim won’t work in a router”.
if it had worked I was going to get a Huawei 525 and outside antenna, thanks.
Can I ask you Ken what’s your thoughts on this? Many Thanks.

Hi Ross,
Many thanks for your comment. Previously, Three’s terms and conditions prevented you from using a smartphone SIM card in a mobile broadband router. However, Three has since dropped these restrictions due to an Ofcom investigation into net neutrality. Because these restrictions have been removed, you can now safely use a smartphone SIM card in any mobile broadband router like the Huawei B525.
Hope this helps,
Ken

Josephsaid:

Hi, I have traveled a lot in Europe but I don’t live in the UK. Due to my work, I have to buy SIM cards often. I always buy pay as you go SIM from the web outside the UK. Do you provide 3 mobile SIM cards for pay as you go for 5G/12G purchase?

Hi Joseph,
Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, we don’t sell SIM cards directly on this website, but you should be able to order one from the Three website (though they may require a UK address). Alternatively, some other retailers might be happy to dispatch a SIM card outside the UK but unfortunately I don’t have any specific recommendations to share!
KEn

Wendysaid:

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About Ken

My passion is helping people to get the most out of their mobile phone. I've been blogging at Ken's Tech Tips since 2005.

Aside from writing about mobile technology, I have an interest in software development, digital marketing and physics. Outside of the blog, I work with numerous technology companies helping them to market their product to consumers. Find out more.